Ghost Stories by M. R. James Vol 1 Read by Derek Jacobi (2007)

Ghost Stories by M. R. James Vol 1

Written by M. R. James.  Read by Derek Jacobi

BBC - 2007

Audio Download - Unabridged

     As previously mentioned in other posts, I've been listening to a lot of M. R. James readings and dramatizations recently.  I’m not entirely sure why he’s become a bit of a lure for me now, after all these years of my being generally indifferent to him, but I'm going to carry on and see where it takes me next.  Perhaps it is just to do with getting old and dealing with the inevitable, as I suggested previously but I think there might be a little more to it than that.   He feels like a foundation stone, or at least a very significant strata through late 20th century culture.  And I think I want to fully understand what that means; what his work is built upon and what has been built upon it, afterwards.  The theories are coalescing, and I'll come back to them when they are fully formed.

   The latest collection to fall into my ears are all read by Derek Jacobi, who masterfully narrates his way through five stories of varying length.  These are; A View from A Hill and The Ash Tree, which I have encountered before in other forms. And Rats, A School Story and The Story Of A Disappearance, which are all new to me.

   If my audible history is correct then I’ve previously listened to five M. R. James, stories read by David Suchet and I didn’t imagine these could be bettered by anyone else but if I was forced to make a preference now, I would have to go with Jacobi. There is just that little bit more of a performance to his readings, almost as if he was standing upon stage doing them as part of a one man show.  I can almost see his arms moving about, his face contorting through emotions and the wicked glint in his eye as he delivers the denouement.  But that could just be my preference and I would recommend either actors readings as a great way to introduce yourself to these ghost stories. 

   There's a volume 2 in the audible library awaiting my attention some time soon but for now the next haunted old pile I'm off to investigate is Fetch Priory and the second coming of the Fendahl.

Steve

The Driftway by Penelope Lively (1972) ...and a venting of grumbled thoughts

The Driftway

Penelope Lively

Publisher - Piccolo - 1972

Paperback - £0.50

 

    This book was my original Big Read number 3, but I began to flounder only a few chapters in.  So, I parked it and found something a little punchier instead.  I like Penelope Lively's books, so it had to be me, maybe my mood at the time.  I would come back to it.  Not necessarily next but not too far down the line. I've got other books lined up already, but I thought I would just read to the end of the chapter I had stopped in the middle of.  But I can’t even get through that.  I jumped a few pages - which I never do - picked up at a new paragraph and still nothing.  No, not nothing, I realise I actually feel slightly irritated by it.  And that fascinates me.

   My history with Penelope Lively's books is as follows.  I picked up a half dozen in a short period because they fell into that ghostly folkloric genre that was calling to me at the time, and still does.  They have some very evocative covers, and she comes with a great reputation from those that read her as a child and still do as an adult.  Someone I need to read, I thought.

   The first one I read was The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy (1971) which I loved and intend to revisit at some point. Then I read The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973) a Carnegie Medal winner, and really liked that. Then I read the The Whispering Knights (1971) which I liked but was slightly disappointed by. I put it down to the book's rep preceding it and perhaps colouring what I thought it would be like.  Then I read Going Back (1975) which was good as I recall although I can’t really remember much about it oddly.  Then I read Astercote (1970) which again I liked but not as much as I thought I was going to, given its rep.  I read it much more slowly than I expected. I chewed on it rather than devouring it.  On reflection I'm wondering now if I haven't been slowly coming down off the initial hit of the first couple of books and that maybe I don't much care for her writing style, even if I do really like her subject matter.  It's hard to be totally sure because along with that thought goes a slight sense of disloyalty for some reason.

   And now back to The Driftway which I can’t even manage a few pages of.  And I think it’s because its overwritten. There, I said it.  It feels soupy and verbose.  Not every sentence.  Some are quite lovely but en masse there are so many unnecessary extension to sentences with ands buzzing around the page like wasps at a picnic. You know how it is; you ignore them at first, then you flick a few away unthinkingly, but then you begin to realise just how prevalent they are.  Eventually it becomes all about them and not about the food or the scenery any longer. And that's where I am at.

   To quantify that a little bit; this is just the way I feel about it.  It’s my problem. I'm not saying Lively is a bad writer, God knows her career is long enough, her awards are many and her fan-base is massive but I don't think she is for me anymore.  At least not for a while. My tastes may change but at the minute I can’t get past stuff like this:

 "As the brilliance of the day began to ebb away the countryside had a tired, worn look, as though the luxuriance of summer had drained it, leaving the gold and copper flaming in the hedges and trees as a last grand gesture: there was already a hint of winter in the bleached grasses that lined the road, and the naked fields, patterned with the swirling curves of the plough." 

   Or this:

   "Through a gateway the valley beyond was spread wide to the sky, fawn-coloured fields reaching up the slope to meet a blue-green drift of woodland, a stream along the bottom edged with brilliant trees, rowan, beech, and crabapple, cows moving peaceably on a stretch of grass spattered with the deep green of rushes and marshland."

   They are just two single sentences plucked from the bottom of opposing pages. Two random sentences that by the time you leave them, you can’t quite remember how they started, or even care.  It’s exhausting. Time to walk away.

   But here is something of a tangential thought: Is my intolerance of this style of writing, with its overly descriptive kaleidoscope of visual imagery, an issue for me because it feels so much like an assault on my aphantasia impeded brain? Now there's a thought to ponder long into the night and maybe come back to again here.

   As for Penelope Lively books, I've still got a couple on the TBR shelf; The House in Norham Gardens (1974) and A Stitch in Time (1976).  And I really do want to reread The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy.  So, I'll let some time pass and try again and who knows; I may end up having to take it all back.

Steve

The Haunting by Margaret Mahy (1982)

The Haunting

Margaret Mahy

Publisher - Magnet / Methuen - 1982

Paperback - Not priced

   This was not the next book I originally picked up to read after Robert Westall's;  Blitz, but for reasons I'll cover when I get round to finishing that one, this turned out to a much needed little gem.

   I cant remember where I picked it up.  I want to say it was fairly recently, from a charity shop in some seaside town or other, and that it probably only cost me a quid.  As a bonus it's in near perfect condition that makes it hard to accept that its over 40 years old.  And it certainly doesn't read like it is.  It also looks exactly like the kind of kids genre stories that drew me back into reading the books I missed out on when I was that age. And now I've finished it I can confirm its a fine example, all be it in not quite the way I expected. 

   Which is to say that despite the title and the cover, its not quite what it seems to be but in a good way.  In fact it does a couple of unexpected turns that a lesser man might christen; plot twists, but which are in fact just contradicting the reader's presumptions.  And no I'm not going to call them out here and ruin anyone's future reading pleasure.

   What I will say though is that the characterisation of the main family; The Palmers is an absolute delight.  They are funny and the interplay between the Dad, step mum and the three children is wonderful and refreshingly devoid of cliches.  Mahy's style pops with great dialogue and feels very real.

     "There was trouble at once with the cool receptionist, she was so very white and immaculate that she seemed to leave a bright outline of herself in the air after she had moved on, so that you saw her where she was and where she had been at the same time. There was something of science fiction about this which Tabitha would have liked to take notes on, but she was trying to seem particularly polite."

   Mahy reminds me a bit of Robert Westall and especially the way he wrote the main family in his The Wind Eye YA novel.  Which is surely the secret of writing one of these 'spooky' little tales; if you like the characters then you will care what happens to them and so the threat is naturally elevated. 

   I've another of Mahy's books on the shelf, called The Trickster which ill be getting round to sooner rather than later but on the strength of this one alone, I will be seeking out more of her past works.

A new old voice to add to the list. - Lovely!

Steve

Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl Audio by Terrance Dicks with Louise Jameson (2020)

Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl

Novel by Terrance Dicks.  Read by Louise Jameson

BBC - 2020

Audio Download - Unabridged

   The Image of the Fendahl was a 1977 television story in four weekly parts, starring Tom Baker as The Doctor and with Louise Jameson as Leela.  I have memories of watching it at the time.  It’s a spooky Hammer Horror, alien monster kind of a thing with “mad” scientists, spooky night-time woods and satanic rituals in the Priory cellar .

   I picked up the Target novelisation when it came out in mid-1979 because that was the only way to relive it, or so I thought. I deeply disliked the cover art, but that really is no reason to judge a good book harshly.

   Doctor Who Weekly started a few short months after that with its many features, story synopsis and interviews. So, I got to read all about it and study some great pictures over the years

   And then technology made good business sense of old television shows and I got to watch it again around about 10 years later.  I watched it first on my brother’s video cassette and then several years after that on my own DVD… repeatedly, and with a whole load of extras.  Who would have ever imagined!

   The last time I watched it was December 2022 following the death of its author; script writer and editor Chris Boucher.  I’m not sure it’s often held up as one of the  classic Who stories but it’s certainly one of the ones I have returned to in many formats over the years.  It’s a lovely example of Tom as the 4th Doctor, a good example of 70s TV drama and a great big duvet of comfort viewing for when you need some alone time from the modern world.

   My thoughts from that most recent viewing was that it’s still all of the above but with a nagging feeling that it was missing a few transitional scenes and moody background shots. Not literally, but from a story telling point of view and with the desire to really crank up the tension of it all.  On reflection this was probably being fed by the fact that I have been watching and listening to a lot of M.R James adaptions lately and while the two things are different genres, they definitely shared a Gothic language.  It needed a bit of fixing.

   Which brings me - the long way round - to my latest big listen of the year, which is the audio reading of the novelisation of the television story as read by Leela herself, actress Louise Jameson. And boy does this do the job!

   Firstly, there are some lovely little details dropped into the story by the great Terrance Dicks that flesh out the characters and their motivations.  There are snippets of trivia such as why Adam Colby’s dog is called Leakey, which just add extra colour. And then there are some key scenes describing things we just never got to see on screen but which help transitions of action - So that’s how the Doctor escaped that locked room!

   Dicks was a great script editor and a great writer of novelisations, his final polish on this story addresses quite a few of my recent viewing niggles.  But on top of that there’s Jameson’s narration, with its great distinction of character voices, as well as her seemingly effortless ability raise the tension through tone and intonation.  I can’t think of a more perfect person for the job. And then, like a cherry to top of all of that all, there’s a smattering of voice distorts and other sound effects that just raise it to that higher unsettling level.  It really is lovely new way to revisit the story and if I’m going to be controversial I might say it almost feels like the final perfect edition.

   There’s more I could write about the Fendahl as Doctor Who monsters, and I will but not here or just yet. I’ve encountered them sparingly through the years, in book and audio tales spinning out from the main show but I won’t name them all as in many cases their appearance is an unpublicised surprise.  That said, I’ve a taste for a little more of their gestalty goodness so I am off in pursuit of a few previously unchecked sightings and will report back in future posts.

Steve

Blitz by Robert Westall (1995)

Blitz

Robert Westall

Publisher - Lions / Harper Collins - 1995

Paperback - £2.99

 

   I’ve read a few Robert Westall books over the last 3 or 4 years and quite frankly, for me, they are up there with the best.  He’s often referred to as having been a Children’s author or a Young Adults (YA) author.  I’m loath to call him either because it feels somehow dismissive or second tier.  He was just a great writer who wrote both children and adults with truth, humour, and humanity.  He had a great ear for realistic conversation, a deep understanding of the complexity of relationships and he wasn't averse to a little emotional punch every now and then that will often or not catch you off guard or leave you joyous with memories of long forgotten childhood wonder.

   Blitz is a very small book of just 4 short stories.  There’s The Ruined City of Kor, The Thing Upstairs, Operation Cromwell and Rosie.  The whole book comes in at less than 80 pages but its blindingly good and a real showcase of what the author could do with so little.

   I’ve only read Westall’s novels before this but from what he has crafted in these short stories it shows a mastery of the shorter form as well.

   Without revealing which is which, among this collection of tales from the civilian life of World War Two: we have a spooky one, a funny one, a childhood adventure and one that’s just a little bit heart breaking.

   There are also about eight black ink illustrations in my edition by David Frankland. Light and scratchy in style but capturing significant moments from each story.  They add a little magic to the whole telling.

   There’s not much more for me to say about the book really but if you have never tried Robert Westall's writing then this is as good a place as any to start.

Robert Westall (07 10 1929 – 15 04 1993)

   Westall has got a lot of fans and a lot of first time reads that left deep impressions.  For some it will be The Machine Gunners, others will recommend The Scarecrows or The Watch House.  There’s plenty to choose from and I’ve certainly never read one I didn't like.  My introduction to his work was through The Wind Eye, a Puffin Plus which was so unexpected in so many ways that it still occupies head-space several years on.  I’ll have to return to it one day and try to better understand quite why it haunted me so much but there are so many others of his that I should probably visit first.  And I’m not entirely sure I want to risk exorcising it just yet, anyway.

Review for the Wind eye at the time reading:

The Wind Eye is another Puffin Plus from yesteryear (1976) and another amazing piece of storytelling. I’m not quite sure what constitutes a “Young Adult” book other than the age of the protagonist because everything else about this story is phenomenally adult in theme and concept. This is a book to ponder long after the last page and most probably one to be reread. I’ve more Robert Westall book’s awaiting my attention so it’s good to know his reputation is every bit deserved. Add one more name to this year’s list of newly (re)discovered great writers.

Steve

Doctor Who - The Return of Robin Hood - The Paul Magrs Interview

     This is Paul Magrs.  Paul wrote the first book I read this year which was; Doctor Who - The Return of Robin Hood (2022).   Unusually for me, this is a newly published book by an actual living author and there are certain possibilities inherent in that fact.

So, because I can be a cheeky wee chap at times, and because Paul was very lovely about it and said yes, what we have here is a rather brilliant interview about his book and the process of its creation.

Now go, read on, but tread with caution if you haven't already read The Return of Robin Hood yet because from here on...There be Spoilers!

 

   Your book is one in a series where the Doctor and other characters from the show crossover into other well-known fictional worlds.  Were you involved with the planning of the overall concept?

   I first became aware of this series when Jac Rayner’s books appeared for pre-order: Oz and Camelot. I loved the idea straight away. As a Puffin reader and a Dr Who reader all my life – the idea of these worlds colliding was irresistible to me. As I’ve said many times, in different ways – to me, Dr Who was always a very bookish series. From the WH Allen hardbacks in our tiny town library, to the perplexing Annuals on Boxing Day… to the Virgin books in the heady days of the 1990s… Dr Who was most often about the books for me… and I loved it when you could see the readerly roots of these stories. Maybe it was because I grew up with 70s Who and the way those stories took their leads from Gothic and Sci-fi classics? To me the best Dr Who was always a mash-up and the TARDIS was always a kind of travelling library.

   In projects like this, do the authors have to share their general story ideas with each other to ensure no two accidentally repeat a similar plot line or denouement?

   I had space to develop my own story… though once I chose Robin Hood there had to be all kinds of complications… in that it had to be both a sequel and a prequel to ‘Robot of Sherwood’… and then I wanted to bring in Richard the Lionheart, so it was also a sequel to ‘The Crusaders’ novel, too…  And of course I’d read Jac’s two books, so I knew I wasn’t going to tread on any of her storylines.

   Were you specifically offered the Robin Hood commission or was that the one you were drawn to?

   I gave a list of Puffin Classics that I would love to write, and Robin Hood was at the top. I love the mid twentieth century versions written by Roger Lancelyn Green and Rosemary Sutcliff, and various others. I love the fact that the legend is never static, from one iteration to the next. There are repeated motifs and plot beats and characters… but there is no exact canon, when it comes to Robin Hood.

  

   Also, there is so much of the cycle of legends that doesn’t get told. The later bits, when Robin and the Merry Men are middle aged and a bit jaded and cheesed off. You never hear about that so much. Then there was the figure of Mother Maudlin, who is to be found in the Lancelyn Green retelling… and who simply cried out to become a Dr Who villain.

   Did you have the choice of which Doctor and companion(s) crossed into the world of Robin Hood?

   I think my lovely editor Tom suggested that the Fourth Doctor would be a good fit and – what with the Nest Cottage Chronicles and all – he feels like my favourite Doctor to write. As for Sarah and Harry… I always thought that they should have been together as a family for a little longer. They were a brilliant team and I loved writing both a possessed Sarah and an overly-enthusiastic Harry. One of my favourite things in this whole novel is the Doctor and Sarah’s dismay when they find that Harry has taught the Merry Men to sing the theme tune from the Richard Greene Robin Hood TV show. It’s so exactly what Harry would do and it still makes me laugh.

   Its interesting to imagine, not so much how other Doctors, but how other sets of companions would have behaved differently than Sarah Jane and Harry do.  For me that’s what makes it such a perfect and lovely story.  Had you considered the 4^th Doctor but with other companions or did it always have to be this team to make it work properly?

   My only other thought would have been Romana and K9, perhaps. But perhaps they’re best saving up for the story set at the end of the legend, when Robin becomes a pirate and is finally defeated by evil nuns in Scarborough. That tale is yet to be told!

   What is your writing process for a book like this, distinct from your own original novels and other commissions?

   It’s more or less the same! A long synopsis, outlining nearly everything that will happen, getting that through a number of drafts and then getting it okayed by everyone. A writing of a first draft that takes about three months with me writing a very precise number of words every day… and then loads and loads of edit notes from both the publisher and the BBC. There are more editorial eyes on these things than most others, perhaps – because you’re writing for someone else’s universe. (During the writing itself, it never feels like someone else’s universe. It feels like it’s wholly mine, when I’m writing it. It has to feel like this story will never get told in just this way, unless I do it my way.)

   Do you plot out full scene breakdowns in advance or just aim confidently towards a series of key scenes.

   As I go on (and it’s almost thirty years doing this stuff now) I outline in more and more detail. It just takes the sting out of things. Having said that, there were wild, improvised flights of fancy involved in Robin Hood. The scene in which Mother Maudlin flies all around the world, dragging the Doctor with her by his scarf… and the Doctor unveiling his music room… these were all moments that came to spontaneous life in the writing itself. You have to leave yourself leeway to create new moments, even when sticking to the strictest of outlines.

   Was there anything you wanted to include but the word count forbade it; Anything on the cutting room floor?

   Not this time! Often there are scenes lopped out or chapters pruned… but here I was quite economical and everything is in there! I do think these 50k books are the right length for Dr Who stories. The old 80k word novels always seemed slightly too long.

   When did the Carrionite enter into the planning?  Was it an active idea from the start to have additional elements of modern Who in the book or was it just too perfect a fit to pass on?

   From my editor, in the first round of edits, if I remember. It was another nice little tie-in to another old story.

   I was more than happy with their one tv appearance but now I want to imagine them lurking in the background of other stories like The Robot of Sherwood, The Kings Demon, The Visitation or The Awakening. Any desire to champion the species to even greater notoriety?

   What I like about them is that they belong to this idea of the Dark Times… a kind of pre-Time Lord universe in Dr Who, which is all monsters, creepy and grim. We’ve had mention of vampires, giant spiders and these witchy beings. I love that there is a Gothic universe that the Time Lords try to tidy up. To me, that’s a whole ragbag of lore and potential story telling. If I were to start up spin-off or tie-in line I would set it right there… ‘The Dark Times.’ It’s Patrick Troughton’s voice going all spooky in ‘The Five Doctors’, explaining to the Brigadier what Rassillon’s time must have been like. Yes, I’d make it all about witches, the Sisterhood of Karn and the vampire lords.

   Has writing this story given you a taste to revisit this particular Tardis team again in the future and do you have any clear idea of other stories you might like to tell?

   I’m not sure! I love them and would love to see more of them. But I’m thinking that it’s probably time that I gave up on writing this Who stuff. I’ve got plenty of my own things to write.

   What is your favourite other version of Robin Hood and why?

   I love ‘Robin of Sherwood’ because it was when I was a kid and it’s as full of nostalgia for me as Dr Who is. There was magic in that show. And I love Richard Greene, and Sean Connery in ‘The Lion in Winter’, and the episode in ‘Time Bandits’, of course. In terms of books, it’s Lancelyn Greene and Rosemary Sutcliff. Here’s the thing – I’d consider it a triumph if my book made readers want to go and read those books by those two wonderful writers, and read their other books, too – which are all warriors and knights, myths and monsters.

   I'm guessing the choices of which other fictional characters the Doctor could meet in this series were based around what is in the public domain.  If that wasn’t a factor, which other fictional world do you think would make a fun crossover?

   I have many, many ideas about this. Endless ones. But I probably ought to stop.

   For my money I think you have written Harry Sullivan’s finest hour.  He’s not the least bit bumbling or foolish.  He’s brave, courageous and he could have even got the girl at the end if he wasn’t so much of a gentleman.  Was this just the way the plotting lead him or something you deliberately aimed to achieve?

   I needed to write him exactly as I saw him. He was an absolute legend – and Doctor Who knew it, even when he called him an imbecile.

   What is the most enjoyable part for you; The planning, the writing, or having the positive feedback from the readers once it’s out there?

   The having finished. The moment when everything is absolutely finished.

   What are you working on now that we should look out for in the future?

   I have a new book of drawings out this year – my third from Harper Collins – it’s called ‘Puss in Books’, and it’s a celebration of cats. In August Puffin will be publishing another literary mash-up by me, ‘Josephine and the Argonauts’… in which the Third Doctor and Jo Grant are dragged away from UNIT HQ, falling into the amazing MythoScope, where all the Greek legends are being endlessly played out. They gather together the crew of the Argo and go in search of the Golden Fleece, in an adventure that features as many gods, goddesses and monsters as I could fit into it.

   And finally; What question should I have asked you or what do you never get asked that you would like to say now?

   Why do I have the Doctor referred to in this book – two or three times – as ‘Doctor Who’? A few people have remarked on it. I love it and, to me, that’s his name. It’s his name especially in the cultural products and tie-in merchandise of the mid-70s. He was ‘Doctor Who’ in the Annuals of the time, and in the Target books of the time and the Weetabix collectible cards of the time… and that’s why he’s still ‘Doctor Who’ to me.

Gathering a little woodland muse the day before the writing started

   Well that was enormousness fun and absolutely above and beyond what I had hoped for.  I obviously want to extend a massive thank you to Paul for sharing his time, his thoughts and the personal photos.  There are a lot of books and audios out there with his name on the front so if you never have had the pleasure before, then its certainly way past time that you did.

Steve

The Conception of Terror: Tales Inspired by M R James (2019)

The Conception of Terror: Tales Inspired by M R James

M R James + Various others

Bafflegab - 2019

Audible Original

 

A ghost story isn’t just for Christmas although there is something very right about a little M R James over the festive period.

This year Mark Gatiss gave us his annual Ghost Story for Christmas in the form of Count Magnus on BBC2 on the evening of December 23^rd.  A period adaption on a tight budget but still an amusing little chiller with Jason Watkins delivering the tortured goods.  I love these cosy, spooky treats and long may the tradition continue.

What I have also been listening to over the holiday period is Bafflegab’s; The Conception of Terror: Tales Inspired by M R James.  There is nothing comfortable about these adaptions, which are an altogether more unsettling experience.

First we have Casting the Runes, as adapted by Stephen Gallagher.  It stars Tom Burke, Reece Shearsmith and Anna Maxwell Martin and is perhaps my favorite of the four.  I’ve watched and listened to numerous versions of Casting the Runes, and each has been enjoyable and worthy of their telling but this may just be the best take on it so far.

Then we have Lost Hearts, adapted by A. K. Benedict and starring Rosa Coduri and Jeff Rawle. Entertaining enough but it kept reminding me of Netflix’s Archive 81 which cancelled out that Jamesian feel even though it predates that Netflix show. – Sorry, the issue is mine!

The Treasure of Abbot-Thomas, adapted by Jonathan Barnes and starring Pearl Mackie and Robert Bathurst was an excellent third tale with some lovely dialogue and a great sense of impending doom.

And finally, and only narrowly being pipped as the scariest, was A View from a Hill, adapted by Mark Morris and starring Alice Lowe and Andy Nyman.  That was chilling.  Nyman does terrified bloke better than anyone I've ever heard.

I have nothing but praise for every Bafflegab production I have ever listened to, and I think I’ve probably heard nearly all of them now.  The writing, the acting and the sound design are without fault.  The alterations to the stories, in order to modernise them, are always clever and organic.  I really can’t recommend them enough and should probably cover them here in the future.  An ideal excuse to play the CDs again.

This particular collection wasn’t available on CD for me to give them more of my money directly but was only available as an audible original.  That said, it’s going to stay in the digital library because all of these will be worth revisiting when I need a fix of the chills.

I’m quite new to audible and have enjoyed “reading” books when I’ve not had the time to sit and crack open the physical copy.  And there is no denying that with the right narrator it can transcend to an even greater experience – sadly the opposite is also true and there are a couple of things I’ve had to stop part way with an intention of revisiting them back in book form because the readings haven’t been appropriate.  Fortunately, M.R. James seems to be very well served with quality narration and also a lot of free downloads for audible members.  This winter I’ve listened to A warning to the Curious, Casting the Runes, Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You My Lad and The Ash Tree, all read by David Suchet, who is an absolute master at it.

In one medium or another, I’ve been dipping in and out of M R James stories all through the year starting off with revisits to the ITV Playhouse version of Casting the Runes (1979) and the granddaddy of them all: Night of the Demon (1957). There is a fascinating allure to M R James stories for me now where once I used to find them cold and a bit old fashioned. Now I think they are fashioned for the old… those nearer their end than their beginning, and that their appeal is to make us confront the inevitable. It’s a thought!

And here is another one; Although I have a copy of his Collected Ghost Stories on the shelf, and have done for years, I’m fairly certain I haven’t actually ever read an M R James short story for myself.  This would be very remiss of me were it not for the fact that, from what I understand, he only wrote them to be read in person at his little gatherings.  So maybe that’s OK then. After all, we aren't meant to read Shakespeare but rather watch it be performed.  Perhaps this is why M R James is so brilliantly served when he’s lifted off the page and becomes performance.

His works are cautionary tales for the telling that whisper to us about what is to come and what might be waiting for us on the other side. And if you don’t appreciate them just yet, then know that you will do one day.  They'll be waiting for you down the years.

Steve

Doctor Who - The Return of Robin Hood by Paul Magrs (2022)

Doctor Who - The Return of Robin Hood

Paul Magrs

Penguin / Puffin - 2022

Paperback - £7.99

     So I’ve broken my own rules with the first book of the year… well sort of.

I said I was going to rekindle my reading habit by starting the year with some teenage and children's books from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.  I selected the titles I was going to start with, made a pile on the top shelf and then... I ignored them all for a Christmas gift.

However, even though it was published only last year, it is at least a Puffin book and set in the mid 70’s era of Doctor Who, all be it as a sequel of sorts to the 2014 story: The Robot of Sherwood.

Up front I’ll have to say that I’m not a massive fan of that particular TV episode and primarily because I think the idea of the Doctor meeting the predominantly fictional character of Robin Hood, especially such an idealised and mythical version, shatters the illusion of the show.  I would feel the same if he were to meet Dracula, Sherlock Holmes or Tarzan. I watched this episode waiting for the get out of jail card to be played; it’s a computer simulation, it’s a Westworld style theme park, it’s a return to the 1968 Mind Robbers episode and the Land of Fiction.  Some of these would have been thin but they would have been preferable to what we actually got which was that it was all real!  This perfect version of Robin Hood was the one from history, the one on which the myths were all just…. accurately reported?  I don't buy it!

Curious, you might think, that I would be drawn to its sequel then.

Well for starters my first thought was that it wasn’t an actual sequel but rather a fresh take on Robin Hood and perhaps a pass at a more historically accurate iteration - A look at the man that spawned the legend if you will.  That turned out not to be the case but oddly with so many years having passed since their first meeting, this older more cynical take on the outlaw is by default somewhat more believable.

Also and very much on the plus side is that this is the 4^th Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry Sullivan.  My Doctor and Tardis team from a time when I first remember actively investing in the show.  This is the era of playground re-enactment and discussions about cool monsters and cliff-hanger endings.  These are the foundation stones of my appreciation of the series. When this team is done properly it really is like time traveling back to my childhood.  And as it turns out they are done extremely well in this new book.

Tom Baker’s Doctor is captured perfectly, not just the words but the little gestures and mannerisms.  This is the Doctor of 1975, detoured into a previously untold tale betwixt Cybermen and Zygons.  Likewise, the companions are also pitch perfect. There are so few Harry Sullivan episodes on television that I’m instantly drawn to anything that offers us another glimpse of this charming and likable hero.  And even more so when he’s not cast as the bumbling fool. 

As for Robin and his Merrie Men, well ultimately they are trapped in the broader strokes of the known myth.  The same is also true for Maid Marian, the Sheriff, Gisborne and the Kings, although their purpose is to define the satisfactory conclusion, so there is a little more flexibility in how they hit their marks, as long as they do hit them.  The Kings John and Richard are especially well served up with some historical truths that leave you pondering not just this telling but other versions of Robin Hood that you may have seen or read.  I really liked this element.

And without getting into the realm of spoilers, there is a further villain manipulating the events from the background.  A creature that makes this a science fiction rather than a pseudo-historical story.  It’s a perfect fit as well and so logical that I find myself wondering if that same alien wasn’t lurking behind the scenes of the Robots of Sherwood.  It might retroactively explain quite a few of my own questions.

All in all, and for a man that doesn’t think the Doctor and Robin Hood have any business being in the same story, I really rather enjoyed this book.

It was a nice easy read and charmingly told with an inbuilt nostalgic feel that will probably require periodic revisit. And I would love for Paul Magrs to be allowed to take the Doctor, Sara and Harry out for another adventure soon because he nailed them perfectly in this one.

I also feel I should give a shout out to the cover art by Angelo Rinaldi.  It's simple and iconic and looks for all the world like an image from a TV story you never got to see at the time.  If I still had all of my Target novelisations on the bookshelf, I would definitely slide this in between The Revenge of the Cybermen and The Loch Ness Monster where it rightly belongs.

New Year, new reading list and a cracking start.

And a very final thought on the subject of Robin Hood generally.  I do like the story.  I think its important. I fully expect to bare witness to further TV and film versions in my lifetime.  The message is always relevant but nobody has done anything really interesting with the mechanics of it since the Robin of Sherwood TV series in the early 80s when they gave it a touch of the Doctor Whos.  I'm pretty sure they were the first to add diversity to the usual cast of outlaws. They supplemented the standard sword and arrows story lines with the introduction of dark magics and folklore.  And on top of that they also found an effective means to regenerate the protagonist. It could have gone on for longer.  And for my money, that's the version that has yet to be bettered.  At some point this year, I would like to read the novelisations from that show and maybe look at some of the other creative works of Richard Carpenter in this blog because he's just not talked about as much as he should be.

Steve